


carry me away

by selvadaehwi



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: M/M, fall fluff, hongjoong is a baby, i wanted to write another fall themed thing, i wrote this at work when i was bored, that’s basically the entire plot of this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-24 08:49:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21096716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/selvadaehwi/pseuds/selvadaehwi
Summary: hongjoong hates haunted houses. however he does really like yeosang. so he has a stupid idea.more cute fall fun because we all need it really





	carry me away

this might just be the dumbest idea hongjoong has ever had. and he’s had lots of them. once, he thought it would be smart to turn in a piece of paper with only the word “this” on it when his teacher had asked for a five page essay on the nature of a risk in psychology 101. to no one’s surprise, he had failed. he didn’t know it was possible to get less than a zero percent. but apparently you could, in fact, get negative points according to his teacher, who had given him a -5/100 for the assignment. took him weeks to bring that grade up.

another time, he decided to heat up a chocolate bar that had frozen in his bag from the snow-chill invasion outside. so he put it in the microwave for 2 minutes and then went off to change out of his icy, flake-laden clothes. when he came back, he discovered-oh joy! oh rapture!- that apparently, he had somehow hit an extra zero. and he started a kitchen fire. ten minutes and a lot of running around like a headless chicken later, the fire was finally out. not his best moment.

this time he’s really done it, though. this time it’s gonna be even worse. if someone had told him last halloween that he’d voluntarily be going to a haunted house alone, he’d have laughed in the face of that person. but that’s exactly what he’s doing as he slowly moves closer to the line outside the attraction, chock-full of couples and friends laughing and talking and joking and enjoying the spirit of fall and the approaching holiday.

hongjoong does not like halloween. and he definitely doesn’t like haunted houses. ghosts give him goosebumps, clowns make him cry, and monsters cause him misery. so it’s safe to say that he didn’t get in the line because he wanted to experience the horrific “thrills” that might be inside. no, hongjoong has one reason and one reason only to be standing outside of what is going to be his worst nightmare. and the reason has a name. kang yeosang.

kang yeosang is hongjoong’s sunrise. he is his sunset. he is his sun, his moon, and his stars. hongjoong once tried to write a poem about yeosang, and then he realized it wasn’t really a poem because he was just listing objects that yeosang is similar to. so basically what he’s doing right now. there’s really no way to describe yeosang. he is simultaneously everything and nothing, in every corner of the world hongjoong explores and in none of them because there’s no comparison to be had between yeosang and anything else that exists in the world. 

hongjoong doesn’t think yeosang knows he exists. sure, they’ve exchanged smiles while walking down the hallway. and last year, they were partnered up for a biology project. that was the best week of hongjoong’s life as far as he’s concerned. but those are meaningless interactions. and yeosang has so many friends that he couldn’t possibly remember the boy he laughed with over the sheer amount of eggs a female frog apparently contained (hongjoong had actually screamed when he saw them, and he thought yeosang was going to laugh forever).

so what he’s doing now is foolish, really. after all, there are like 500 people in line. the chances of his randomly assigned haunted house partner being yeosang are slim to none. but if there’s even a tiny chance, hongjoong will take it. and that’s exactly what he is doing as he moves forward in line, almost at the front by this point. 

and of course it has to be san running the partner-assigning booth. san, as one of hongjoong’s best friends, knows about his ridiculous crush on yeosang. “you really came all the way here just for him. didn’t know you had it in you,” san says. the look on san’s face is pure mischief, and it scares hongjoong slightly. 

“n-no! i j-just wanted to try something new for once. maybe it won’t be as scary as i thought ,” hongjoong replies, nervously looking around and hoping no one has overheard san’s words. 

“mmhmm. then you won’t mind if i do this, right?” san asks. without waiting for an answer, he screams, “kang yeosang! it’s your turn! i finally picked your name!”

“fuck you,” hongjoong whispers, but san only laughs. 

“we both know you’d rather do that with yeosang, though.”

“shut UP!” hongjoong hisses, but he isn’t able to say any more because kang yeosang has found his way over to the booth.

oh my god. wow. he’s still the most beautiful person i’ve ever seen. i mean, i saw him like two hours ago but. wow. 

it’s 60 degrees and he’s wearing a jacket to keep the autumn chill out, but hongjoong feels like he’s about to melt into the carpet of dried leaves below him. perhaps he was a snowman in a past life, destined to melt when the sun (read: one kang yeosang) shone on him for even a moment.

“finally, san. i was waiting for like a whole hour for you to pick my name. felt like you were waiting for someone specific or something.” yeosang says, casually striding up to san and doing that weird handshake-hug thing that is a typical greeting among guys at their school.

hongjoong’s head whips around and he stares at san, wishing his eyes were lasers so he could incinerate san where he stood. but san gives him another shit-eating grin and replies, “nope. guess it was stuck at the bottom or something.”

“huh.” yeosang looks slightly skeptical, but he doesn’t push the issue. 

“so! rules.” san says loudly, possibly in an attempt to dissuade yeosang from asking any further questions. “one, don’t touch the actors. two, don’t touch the props. three, don’t break anything. i know that’s gonna be hard for you, hongjoong, but really try.” hongjoong’s face is probably painted a bright shade of crimson judging by the heat that rises to his cheeks. he feels yeosang’s eyes shift to him, but he keeps staring directly at san. “and finally, once you go in, you have to keep going. there’s no other way to get out other than to reach the end. sound good? great. now get going!” san steps aside to let them pass.

“b-but.....what......we’re just trapped in there? there’s no way out?” hongjoong tries to keep his fear in check, but it’s rising in him like a helium balloon and he’s not sure if he can calm himself. 

yeosang laughs. “it’ll be ok. i’ll never leave your side, okay? and we don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”

well, obviously not, hongjoong thinks. but then who knows when he’ll get the courage to talk to yeosang again. probably never, if he’s being honest. so he says, “no. i’ll be fine. let’s go.”

as they pass san, he moves close to hongjoong and whispers, “bet you’ll hold his hand when you get scared!” hongjoong glares at him, and san starts laughing. but hongjoong has to keep moving because he can’t lose yeosang in the crowd. he’ll pummel san later. 

when they arrive at the entrance to the haunted house, yeosang looks back at hongjoong. “i did mean it. we don’t have to do this. i don’t remember you being especially brave back in bio....”

“hey!” hongjoong exclaims, swatting at yeosang’s arm. “just for that, we’re doing this. and i bet i won’t get scared even one time.” 

“yeah, okay. we’ll see,” says yeosang doubtfully.

hongjoong is proven wrong about two seconds after entering. a guy dressed as a mummy (how original) bursts out from a cupboard and makes some sort of grunting noise right next to hongjoong’s ear, causing him to screech and grab onto yeosang’s arm tightly. 

yeosang starts laughing. “what’s that you said about not being scared?” he asks lightly.

“s-shut up,” hongjoong retorts, but it doesn’t have much of an impact seeing as he’s shaking like a leaf. yeosang, noticing his fear, grabs the hand that hongjoong had placed on his arm. 

“it’s gonna be fine. let’s keep moving.” 

after about 10 more times of being scared by people jumping out of dark crevices and props swinging down directly in front of his face, hongjoong is thoroughly tired of this haunted house thing. he knows he’s being ridiculous, but a few tears slip from his eyes anyway. he really hopes yeosang won’t see.

but of course, hongjoong wouldn’t get that lucky. yeosang turns to check on hongjoong’s well-being, probably because hongjoong hasn’t made a sound in several minutes after incessantly screaming the entire rest of the time, and notices the drop paving a path down hongjoong’s cheek. “hey, hey, hongjoong. c’mere.” 

hongjoong moves closer to yeosang, following his command. yeosang wraps his arm around hongjoong’s waist and pushes his head down into yeosang’s shoulder. “don’t look, okay? we’re gonna get out of here.” hongjoong is almost facing sideways now. he hopes yeosang won’t lead him right into a wall or something, although if he did he wouldn’t be worse than hongjoong himself, who’s walked into walls more times than he can count.

all hongjoong can do is nod into yeosang’s shoulder. he smells so nice, like freshly washed clothes and sugar-spun cotton candy. sweet. as expected. he lets yeosang guide him through the winding halls, ignoring the screaming of the actors and banging of the props while he focuses on yeosang’s arm, which remains solidly around his waist.

after a few minutes, the air starts to feel different. cooler, crisper, like a perfectly ripe macintosh apple. “you can look now,” yeosang tells him. hongjoong slowly raises his head. first, he notices that they’re outside. second, he sees yeosang looking at him with one of the most concerned expressions he’s ever witnessed on someone’s face.

“i’m not trying to be rude, but......why in the hell would you come to a haunted house if you were gonna hate it that much? do you like.....enjoy torturing yourself? masochism is never the answer, hongjoong. although i wouldn’t judge if that’s what you’re into.” there’s no malice in yeosang’s tone. he mostly just sounds confused. 

hongjoong guesses there’s no way out of this without telling the truth. or at least part of it anyway. “well, uh....there’s this guy i really like. and i was sort of hoping i would get to do it with him. it was, like, basically impossible and it was a really stupid idea, but.....he’s really special and i don’t really know how to talk to him at all so i came up with this plan.”

yeosang stares at him for a minute and then starts laughing hysterically. once his giggles subside, he remarks, “that’s one lucky guy if you were willing to go through all of this for him. it’s a shame you didn’t get to go with him, huh?”

“um,” hongjoong begins. he doesn’t even know what he’s doing, but he thinks he has to tell yeosang now because if he doesn’t then he won’t get the opportunity again. “well, i kinda did.”

the shock on yeosang’s face is unmistakable. “you....what? me?”

“yeah, um.....i kind of really, really like you? and you have like a million friends and i didn’t think you even knew me or would want to talk to me or would wanna, you know, date or whatever so i came here which in hindsight was really idiotic cause now i’m just embarrassed,” hongjoong finishes, slightly out of breath from his lengthy monologue. 

“no, i- hongjoong, there’s no way you like me back. what are you saying?” yeosang looks so puzzled, it’s adorable. hongjoong wishes he could sort through all the precious thoughts in yeosang’s head. and then he processes what yeosang has just said.

“i do-wait. what do you mean, like you back?”

“uh, i like you too. i have since that stupid biology project when you were being a baby about touching the frog and you made me do all the work. at first i was annoyed but then i realized how cute it was. i thought you didn’t want to see me cause you never talked to me again after that.” yeosang runs a hand through his own hair and hongjoong almost screams louder than he had during the entire ordeal in the haunted house, both from yeosang’s words and from the action.

“i wanted to talk to you! but you were always with your friends.......i’m not cool enough for you. you should probably stop having a crush on me. it won’t be fun for you,” hongjoong tells him. he thinks yeosang will leave after that, maybe say something like “you’re right. thanks for the laughs though”, but he doesn’t. he just stays right there, staring at hongjoong as if he’s suddenly morphed into an unknown specimen he wants to add to his collection (yeah, hongjoong is definitely thinking about biology too much).

“you think i care about popularity? that shit’s dumb. i talk to who i want. and i wanna talk to you. so deal,” yeosang says, and hongjoong looks at him incredulously. 

“so, like......what does that mean, exactly?” hongjoong questions. yeah, he likes yeosang and yeosang likes him, but that doesn’t do anything. what are they? where is this going to go? 

“you dumbass. i like you, you like me, so date me already!” yeosang says. “just ask the fucking question, please. i’m begging you.”

“o-okay. yeosang, will you be my-“ but hongjoong doesn’t get to finish that sentence because suddenly yeosang’s face is two inches from his own.

smirking, yeosang says, “yes. thought you’d never ask.” and he presses his lips against hongjoong’s.

all hongjoong can see is sparkles. he wonders if yeosang has somehow made time turn back to the fourth of july, because he definitely hears the booming of fireworks and sees the air explode with bursts of colorful light. he wraps his arms around yeosang’s waist and kisses back. 

after a few seconds, yeosang groans and pulls away. “god, i’ve wanted to do that for so long. you have no idea.” hongjoong can’t stop smiling now. he feels like he’s been infected with a happy virus.

“sorry for, um, crying. that’s kind of......ouch,” hongjoong says, embarrassed. he keeps smiling, though. he doesn’t remember how to be anything else but joyful, apparently.

“don’t be. you walked through an entire haunted house just for me. that’s like the most romantic thing you could have possibly done,” yeosang replies, slipping his hand into hongjoong’s much as it had been when they were in that cursed place just minutes before. 

“yeah, i guess i did,” hongjoong says. “so if you ever doubt my love for you just remember i faced a whole ass clown for you. i’ve been scared of them since i was five.”

“that’s actually the best thing i’ve ever heard,” yeosang sighs. “can i take you on a real date now? we can still hold hands but hopefully you won’t be crying this time. there’s a diner up the road that has really good milkshakes.” 

“yes. let’s go. please,” hongjoong tells him. “but i hope you know we’re not sharing.”

yeosang rolls his eyes. “i wouldn’t expect anything less.”

and just like that, the whole haunted house ordeal is worth it. in fact, hongjoong would definitely have tried one before if he knew he would be getting a boyfriend out of it. because 20 minutes of pain was nothing compared to the joy and love he knew he’d be experiencing with yeosang. and that will last him a lifetime.

but he’s always gonna be scared of ghosts.

**Author's Note:**

> i’ve never written ateez before so this was actually super fun! they’re my babies i love them a lot a lot.
> 
> i might be working on something chaptered rn......it was supposed to be short but my chenle aus are never short so we’ll see where that goes.
> 
> as always thanks for reading <3


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